Chelsea Grange vitalized by country music jams

CHELSEA — A couple of white-haired women danced together to the country music, but the rest of the 30 or so seated listeners nodded their heads or tapped the tables covering half of the Grange hall’s meeting room. The dozen musicians, most with acoustic guitars, sat in chairs in a semicircle on the other side of the meeting room Sunday afternoon, playing old country songs to a fittingly aged crowd.

Since March, these biweekly country jams have filled the Chelsea Grange, which has been sparingly used for years, other than for monthly Grange meetings.

The parking lot at the Chelsea Grange Hall is full as people gather to listen to country music and enjoy snacks on Sunday afternoon. Donations for snacks are earmarked to pay for replacement of the roof. Kevin Bennett Photo

Hugh Start of Warren and Colleen Cox of Jefferson dance to country music at the Chelsea Grange on Sunday afternoon. Kevin Bennett Photo

“We didn’t expect this many people for Mother’s Day,” said Mary Emerson, whose husband, Ed Emerson, is one of the musicians and brought a Mother’s Day balloon to give in a free raffle.

One of the musicians, Bonnie Hendsbee of Whitefield, sang and played a keyboard while her musical partner, Gene Kirkpatrick of Union, sang and strummed his guitar. The pair also frequently play at nursing homes in the area.

The century-old building on Route 226 has been the meeting place for Chelsea Grange 215, a local chapter of the national fraternal organization, since it was completed by its members in 1914. But the building is in need of repairs, and the local group has been raising money for around two years to replace the building’s leaking roof. A sign showing the fundraising progress hung on front of the building reads: “Help My Roof Is Leaking.”

The country jams, first held in the town’s senior hall last summer and now held every two Sundays from 1 to 3:30 p.m., are free and open to the public.

Some of the proceeds from a 50-50 raffle at each event go to the roof repair fund, but the jams are also held to bring more people out to the Grange hall, said Esther Shaw, overseer of the local group. She said she thinks the event has been so popular because the people really like their country music and the fact that it’s free.

“This gives them an outlet to use their talents,” Shaw, 90, said of the musicians. “And it’s giving people a chance to listen to it, and maybe some of them will join the Grange.”

Like Chelsea’s Grange chapter, membership in the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry has declined for years. In Chelsea, there are only about 12 active members, and most have been there for at least half a century, Shaw said.

The organization has been actively raising funds to find the $12,000 needed to replace the building’s roof since 2013. In October, the group used $4,000 of the funds raised to fix a quarter of the roof, leaving about $1,200 left in the fund, Shaw said.

If the group raises more than the costs for a new roof, the funds will be used to make other improvements to the building, such as adding running water and a proper bathroom – something other than the outhouse in the building, Shaw said. With running water and a flushable toilet, the group hopes to host more events at the Grange hall, she said.

The group has sent letters to businesses and individuals asking for money and included a fundraising letter in the tax bills sent out to Chelsea residents.

“It’s surprising how people responded to it,” Shaw said, adding that she didn’t know many of the people who donated. “I used to know everyone in town, but it’s different now I’ve been out of circulation.”

People interested in donating to the Grange can send money to a Bank of Maine account set up for the effort called the Chelsea Grange roof fund, she said.

“We’ve been steadily improving,” Shaw said, “but there are so few of us, it would take all of our Social Security money and then some.”

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